A study on 19th century İzmir levantines and their effects on urban morphology

The 19th century city of İzmir accommodated different ethnic groups such as Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Jews and Levantines. These different ethnic groups have continued their existence without assimilation with their identity structures and origins, and have succeeded in reflecting their own cultures in the morphology of the city. Levantines, who had a great say in the city, played a major role in shaping the physical structure of the city. Levantines, whose main reason for coming to İzmir is the demand for trade volume and the search for a market, increased the trade volume in İzmir and transformed the city into one of the most important port cities of the world by positively affecting the economic life. The reason why the Levantines settled in this area, which is known as the Frenk Mahallesi, which is on the coastline, is that the commercial area, the port is here and they want to keep the city trade, and they also want to be independent from the Ottoman society, which they are ethnically and socially different from. They have reflected their own lifestyles on their structures, both aesthetically and functionally. These structures were built with the reflection of the architectural understanding and approaches that were dominant in Europe, the origin of the Levantines. This thesis study, which examines the effect of Levantine culture on the spatial transformation of the 19th century city of Izmir and traces the traces of Levantine culture in the physical formation of the city, mainly used the research methods of urban morphology. This research, unlike the studies done so far, examined the effect of Levantine culture on the shaping of the physical structure in İzmir, starting from macroform to microform. In this context, the effect of Levantines on İzmir's urban morphology is examined with an examination from upper scale to lower scale, including the city form, Levantine District, and Levantine structures. Analyzes based on city maps and plans dated to the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century are compared and evaluated chronologically, and the spatial development and change of İzmir is discussed.